Thousands of NATO troops including from Spain and Turkey joined an exercise Wednesday on Germany's Baltic coast that defence officials labelled a show of readiness to deter Russia. Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum General Ingo Gerhartz is pictured in front of the German frigate "Brandenburg" during NATO's STEADFAST DART exercise in Putlos, Germany. (Photo by Fabian Bimmer / POOL / AFP)The German military's top general, Carsten Breuer, said Berlin and its NATO allies faced a "real threat". Soldiers in helicopters take part in NATO's STEADFAST DART 26 exercise. The Putlos drill forms part of the multinational exercise Steadfast Dart 2026, running from January to March, which involves about 10,000 troops from 11 European NATO member states.

Source: The Local February 19, 2026 22:04 UTC